Rescued by Pinky, the Tow Truck.

Pinky, the East Coast Towing Truck dedicated to breast cancer survivors.

I was gadding about the other day when I had car trouble and had to call AAA  to tow my van  to my mechanic across town.  AAA sent East Coast Towing, and when the truck showed up it was bright pink---decorated with pink ribbons honoring breast cancer survivors. 

Pinky's license plate.

Matthew, the driver,  was very helpful and friendly.  We had to go near my house on the way to the mechanic so he dropped me there first.  I had noticed a lot of pink breast cancer ribbons attached to the roof of his cab and when I inquired he told me each one represented a breast cancer survivor who had ridden in his truck while their vehicle was being towed.  I told him that I was a 25 year breast cancer survivor so he added a ribbon for me.

Matthew's Pinky towing the van.

Ribbons in honor of breast cancer survivors who have ridden in Matthew's truck.

The next time I need to be towed, I am going to request the Pink Tow Truck with Matthew as the driver.  East Coast Towing donates a $1.00 for every call this tow truck makes to a charity supporting breast cancer awareness or breast cancer research.

Matthew and my selfie.

My van had a minor problem.  The hose from the radiator to the heater had sprung a leak and antifreeze was spurting out onto the manifold causing smoke to billow out from under the hood.  At first I thought the car was on fire.  Glad to have AAA and happy they sent Matthew with East Coast Towing.

Our AAA TripTik

Whenever we travel some distance we have AAA prepare a TripTik for us.  As we travel from Columbia, MD to Newburgh, NY we are counting on this TripTik and our Garmin to keep us on the right track.  We will actually travel more like 1800 miles before we reach our destination, because we sometimes do take some less traveled roads not indicated on the TripTik and that adds extra mileage.  For example, in Pennsylvania we like to go up through Amish Country--Lancaster, Ephrata, Reading Kudztown, and we try to avoid I81 which is a shorter route but which has a lot of truck traffic.

Safe Driving for Seniors

Keeping Seniors Safe in Driver's Seat (Photo from Go Magazine, March-April 2012)

We just received our Go Magazine from AAA, and there is an article that caught my attention: Keeping Seniors Safe in the Driver's Seat.  Seniors or adult children who may be concerned about their parents driving skills will find this article useful.

AAA has a website SeniorDriving.AAA.com that provides expert advice on how to drive safely while aging gracefully.

Until my eye improves from the recent surgery, I only drive short distances and familiar roads at night.  Anyway I found this article in the Go Magazine very helpful and maybe you will too.

Safe driving all!  And above all no texting or cell phone use while driving.  This applies to all drivers, not just seniors.